Wages for UK employees are still rising compared to a year ago but earnings growth remains well below inflation, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In the year to November 2022-January 2023, growth in average total pay (including bonuses) was 5.7% and growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 6.5%.
However, after taking inflation into account average total pay fell by 3.2% and regular pay was down 2.4%.
The gap between public and private sector earnings growth has narrowed sharply, with average regular pay growth of 7.0% in the private sector and 4.8% in the public sector, the ONS noted.
The UK’s employment rate in November 2022 to January 2023 was estimated at 75.7%, 0.1 percentage points higher than the previous three-month period. This increase in employment was driven by part-time employees and self-employed workers.
Unemployment was largely unchanged on the quarter at 3.7%, but there was a decrease in economic inactivity, driven by younger people aged between 16 and 24 either getting jobs or looking for work.
Job vacancies in the UK fell for the eighth consecutive three-month period, with companies citing economic pressures as a factor in holding back on recruitment. However, the number of job vacancies remains high at 1.1 million.
The latest figures also show that there were 220,000 working days lost because of labour disputes in January 2023, down from 822,000 in December 2022.
“The number of working days lost to strikes fell in January from the very high level seen in December,” said Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS. “Nevertheless, many days were still lost, with education the most affected sector.”
